by Suzy Liebermann recently. It is the first in a series of bilingual children's books that help English speaking children to learn Spanish. They also help Spanish speaking children learn English. I sat down and read La Familia with my nine year old daughter. Here is our thoughts on this book that mainly focuses on teaching family member words like abuela and hermano and the like.
First off I really enjoyed the way the book is laid out. It has cute illustrations showing the characters speaking Spanish and under each illustrations is the English translation. This makes is easy to be able to know exactly what is being said on each page. The way the book is set up, anyone can easily follow along and learn the words for each family member shown in the book.
Secondly, I find that the repetitive use of the questions in the book really help learn how to ask them. There is also repetition of the family units as well. For example you will see the word for grandmother more than just the one time in the book.
Lastly, I think that the simple, yet colorful and very relevant illustrations on each page really helps in the learning experience. The pictures relate to what you are learning on each page. I can often be a very visual learner, so I find the use of pictures along with the printed words very helpful.
I want my daughter to have an edge when she starts her language requirements at her school. The only class they teach at her school, other than an English Language course for children with Spanish as their mother language, is a Spanish language course for children. So I decided that she should start learning now, instead of waiting until she is in the grade where they will offer Spanish for children. I believe that learning at home about other languages and culture is just good character education and will help her in other aspects of her life as she grows.
My daughter also enjoyed the book. After reading it through only once together, I asked her what certain words meant, or how to say some of them and she remembered more that I thought she would. That alone is a good indication of how well this book does it's intended job. It teaches a new language easily and quickly. She will continue reading it daily until she learns all she can from it.
She said that she thought the pictures were cute and that she liked the book. She is looking forward to working with me daily to learn this language. I took a couple of years in high school, many years ago, so I know pronunciations pretty well. Even if I didn't though, there is a website that can be used in conjunction with the book. You can see the entire book in an animated, interactive video HERE to hear how the words are pronounced as you read along in the book. I think that is an excellent idea, especially for families that do not have anyone that knows correct pronunciation already.
So what is my final opinion of the book? I give it a two thumbs up. It is an educational book and it does it's job well. It has cute illustrations that help in the learning process. It is a great first book for learning Spanish or English, by being easy to understand and not too advanced for a beginner or child. I hope to use more of the books in the Happy Language Kids series to help my daughter learn to speak Spanish fluently.
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